Classics/WAGS 38: Greek Drama

Transcription

1 Classics/WAGS 38: Greek Drama Rick Griffiths Earth Sciences 306, Prologue: The Battle of the Sexes Sept. 8 Sept. 9 Introduction Euripides Medea (429 BCE) One: The Trojan War from Epic to Tragedy Sept. 14 Sophocles, Philoctetes (409 BCE) Sept. 16 Homer, Iliad (8 th or 7 th century BCE), Book 1; Knox s intro., pp Sept. 21 Iliad, Books 2 and 3; Intro., pp Sept. 23 Iliad, Books 6, 9, and 12 (verses ) Sept. 28 Sophocles, Ajax (?440s BCE) (also section at 8:00 PM for the holiday) Sept. 29 (Tues.) Screening of production of Ajax (not online); 4:00 and 7:30 PM, Media Center Sept. 30 Iliad, Books 11 (verses ), 16, 18, and 19 Oct. 5 Iliad, Books 20, 21, and 22 Oct. 7 Iliad, Books 23 and 24; Intro., pp Oct editorial conferences Oct. 11: 1 st essay (ungraded) due electronically by 12:00 noon 1

2 Two: Containing the Furies: Aeschylus Oresteia (458 BCE) Oct. 14 Oct. 19 Oct. 21 Oct. 26 Oct. 28 Aeschylus, Agamemnon (458 BCE); Foley intro., pp. vi - xvii Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers; Foley intro. pp. xvii - xl Sophocles, Electra (?413 BCE) Aeschylus, The Furies Euripides, Electra (ca. 415 BCE) View online Michael Cacoyannis (dir.), Electra (1961) Oct editorial conferences Nov. 1: 2 nd essay due electronically by 12:00 noon Three: Oedipus Complexly Nov. 2 Nov. 4 Nov. 9: Nov. 11 Sophocles, Antigone (?442 BCE) Edith Hall, The Sociology of Athenian Tragedy, pp (reserve/online). Sophocles, Oedipus the King (? BCE) Edith Hall, The Sociology of Athenian Tragedy, pp View online Martha Graham, Night Journey (1947) Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus (401 BCE, produced posthumously) Aristotle, Poetics (text in course packet) View online Oedipus Rex, music by Igor Stravinsky, libretto by Jean Cocteau, Directed byjulie Taymor (1992) Nov. 16 Rita Dove, The Darker Face of the Earth (1994) 2

3 Four: Tragicomedy: Euripides and Aristophanes Nov. 18 Euripides, Hippolytus (428 BCE) Nov essay conferences Nov. 21: 3 rd essay due electronically by 5:00 PM Nov. 30 Aristophanes, The Acharnians (425 BCE); Sommerstein intro., pp Dec. 2 Aristophanes, The Clouds (423 BCE); intro., pp Euripides, Ion (?408 BCE) Dec. 7 Dec. 9 Dec. 14 Euripides, The Trojan Women (415 BCE) View online Michael Cacoyannis (dir.), The Trojan Women (1971) Aristophanes, Lysistrata (411 BCE) Euripides, Alcestis (438 BCE) Euripides, The Bacchae (pre-406 BCE, produced posthumously) Dec editorial conferences Dec. 19: 4 th essay due electronically by 5:00 PM Requirements: Four essays of words (ca. 5-6 pages), with editorial conferences as the essays are being written. Faithful attendance and productive participation as contributor and listener, such that your essays can go forward from where class discussion leaves off. Goals and Methods: The course aims to develop active mastery of the central texts of Attic Tragedy and Old Comedy and the capacity to advance understanding of them through analytical prose. The reading consists of the plays in translation, as well as selections from Homer s Iliad. After a preliminary reading of the texts, you are asked to look at the reading notes in the course notebook, which provide background on historical background, Athenian theater production, and current theoretical issues, including the construction and representation of gender roles. We will also view filmed versions of some tragedies. Secondary literature is not required, other than introductions to the various assigned translations and one article (Hall, Sociology for Nov. 2 and 4). The reading notes contain references to readings on a range of topics (online and on reserve), as well as to central web sites on Attic drama and on women in antiquity. 3

4 The four essays should provide original interpretation that goes beyond class discussion. Assignment sheets with suggested topic areas will be distributed more than week before the deadline, and you should sign up for editorial conferences in the days before the deadline. These conferences work best if the writer sends in advance a whole or partial rough draft. Anonymous examples of writing from past years and from this year will also be distributed. Analysis in the essays may range from straightforward interpretation to theoretical approaches and (with close consultation) creative work on staging. Academic Honesty: Please review the webpage on Academic Honesty including Amherst s Statement on Intellectual Responsibility, and the page on academic honesty on the Classics / WAGS 38 site. The essay assignments do not require or encourage the use of secondary sources, and any sources used (other than the reading notes and class discussions) should be cited. When in doubt, please ask. Texts: The reading notes are available at the Classics Department office, 15 Grosvenor House. The following required texts are available at Amherst Bookstore. Please use only these translations:. Aeschylus, The Oresteia, trans. P. Meineck (Hackett) Aristophanes, Lysistrata, The Acharnians, The Clouds, trans. A. Sommerstein (Penguin) Euripides, Euripides I (Chicago)* , Euripides III (Chicago)* , Euripides V (Chicago)* Homer, Iliad, trans. R. Fagles (Penguin) Sophocles, Sophocles I (Chicago)* , Sophocles II (Chicago)* * The Complete Greek Tragedies (Chicago) are edited by D. Grene and R. Lattimore. Rita Dove, The Darker Face of the Earth (1994) (Story Line Press) is out-ofprint and needs to be ordered online. 4

5 Chronology: Classics 38: Greek Drama 525/4? Birth of Aeschylus 496/5? Birth of Sophocles 490 First Persian invasion: Battle of Marathon 486 Comic drama introduced at the City Dionysia 484 Aeschylus first victory in dramatic contest c. 480 Birth of Euripides 480 Second Persian invasion: Battles of Artemesium, Thermopylae, Salamis 479 Battle of Plataea 478 Formation of the Delian League (defensive alliance against the Persians) c. 470 Birth of Socrates 468 Sophocles first victory in dramatic contest, with Triptolemus (lost) 462 Ephialtes reform of the Areopagus Council Alliance of Athens with Argos 461 Ephialtes assassination 458 Aeschylus Oresteia wins first prize 456 Death of Aeschylus 455 Euripides first entry in dramatic contest, with Peliades (lost) 449 Institution of prize for best tragic actor c. 445 Birth of Aristophanes 442? Sophocles Antigone 441 Euripides first victory in dramatic competition 431 Euripides Medea wins third prize Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta 430 Plague breaks out in Athens ? Sophocles Oedipus the King wins second prize 429 Death of Pericles c. 429 Birth of Plato 428 Euripides Hippolytus (revised version) wins first prize 425 Aristophanes Acharnians 423 Aristophanes Clouds pre-415 Euripides Electra 5

6 Athenian expedition to Sicily vic. = first places in the tragic competition 415 Euripides Trojan Woman wins second prize. c. 413?Sophocles Electra 411 Overthrow of democracy by oligarchs (Revolution of the 400) Aristophanes Lysistrata 409 Sophocles Philoctetes wins first prize 406/5 Death of Euripides Death of Sophocles after-406 Euripides Bacchae wins first prize posthumously 404 Peace between Athens and Sparta; 30 Tyrants rule Athens 403 Civil war in Athens; restoration of democracy 401 Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus (posthumous) 399 Death of Socrates c. 387 Plato starts Academy 384 Birth of Aristotle 347 Death of Plato 322 Death of Aristotle; Poetics ca. 320s. 525 B.C.E /79 Persian War 431 Pelop. War 404?525 Aeschylus d. 456 (13 vic.) (Oresteia 458) 496? Sophocles d. 406 (123 plays; 24 vic [=96 plays]) Treatise: On the Chorus 480s Euripides d. 406 (96 plays; 3 vic. + 1 vic. posthumously for The Bacchae) (1st produced 455) (1st vic. 441) N.b. how often Euripides was produced and how rarely he won, starting with a gap of 14 years between his first production and first victory. Apocryphal: I present men as they ought to be, Eurpides presents them as they are. Sophocles, quoted by Aristotle in the Poetics (1460b 33ff. 6

7 Terms: agōn amoibaion episode Debate between two actors (spoken). Lyric exchange between actor and chorus (sung). Section of play ( scene ) between stasima (choral odes) eisodos (or parodos) Entryways to the orchestra. exodos Departure speech of the chorus (recited). kommos orchēstra parodos proskēnion protagonist rhēsis skēnē stasimon ( Beating ) Ritual lament of actor and chorus (sung, or sung and recited). Dancing ground. Entrance speech of the chours (recited). Elevated space in front of skēnē. First actor (sim. deuteragonist, second actor, and tritagonist, third actor). Extended speech by actor (spoken). Stage building, usually representing a palace. Choral ode (plural: stasima). stichomythia Line-for-line interchange (sim. distichomythia, two-line) (spoken). strophe theatron Turn, meaning a stanza in lyrics, whose meter and (presumably) choreography would be repeated in the antistrophe (i.e., turn and counter-turn ), followed by an epode (epilogue). Not noted in all translations. Viewing area for audience. 7